Trans women will not be placed in female wards in the UK — The Guardian

In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service for England, NHS England, has published new rules on single-sex spaces in hospitals: trans women will no longer be placed in women-only wards. Wards, toilets and changing rooms for people of one sex will henceforth be used according to a person's biological sex rather than their gender identity, The Guardian reports.

Priority of clinical needs

The guidance states that transgender people should be accommodated according to their biological sex, while ensuring their clinical needs, privacy, dignity and safety, as well as the safety of other patients in the same space.

If clinical needs and single-sex accommodation requirements cannot be met simultaneously, priority will be given to clinical needs. NHS England has also updated guidance for staff: all organisations must audit existing facilities to protect employees' privacy, dignity and safety.

In medical trusts where single-sex facilities predominate, alternatives may be arranged, including single rooms or mixed facilities with separate lockable rooms. Previous NHS England rules allowed patients and staff to be placed in wards or use relevant facilities according to their gender identity.

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Reaction and legal context

Organisations TransActual and Trans+ Solidarity Alliance criticised the new guidance in a joint statement. They said the rules could cause operational difficulties for hospitals with limited resources and leave medical staff without a clear understanding of how to safely provide care to transgender patients.

The guidance was updated following last year's ruling by the UK Supreme Court on the interpretation of the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act. The court ruled that these terms refer to a biological woman and biological sex and do not include trans women with gender recognition certificates.

Maya Forstater, chief executive and co-founder of the charity Sex Matters, welcomed the policy change but expressed concerns about the practical implementation of the rules. Lawyer Bethany Hutchison, who represented nurses in a case against Darlington Hospital, also supported the publication of the new guidance.